Comparing Before and Today

Give the Führer your vote!

German propaganda through WWII would be used for many purposes including patriotism, education, and the anti-sematic depictions of non-German people. In this poster released in 1938, a German soldier stands at the center of the image holding a shovel in place of where his gun should be. The first line of text on the poster reads, “Before: Unemployment, hopelessness, desolation, strikes, lockouts.” These negative connotations towards the past are portrayed in the background of protests and strikers holding signs, drawn in a gray and dull style to emphasize the lack of resources and funds. The second text says, “Today: Work, joy, discipline, camaraderie. Give the Führer your vote!” With a strong and orderly soldier, he is representing the new way of life under the control of the Nazi party in Germany. Although this poster aims to create national pride for the Nazi Party, it also gives an insight into the past, how the leaders saw it, and how it was used in propaganda to influence the public.

The first thing focused on in this piece of propaganda is the ideals and imagery of the new Nazi system that was being put into place. The soldier stands at attention in a Nazi uniform, as he holds a shovel at his side. Nazism as a social construct aimed to keep order, holding faith in Germany and Adolph Hitler, and dismissing anyone who was not part of the white Aryan nation. The image of the swastika is on the man’s sleeve to represent his affiliation with the party, and show to everyone that he works under their control. By holding a shovel instead of a gun, the artist might be trying to create a sense of pride in many laborers within Germany by stating that even workers hold a place in the new Nazi society. This focus on the workers is also similar to the ideas of Marxism and Communist beliefs that were being portrayed in the Soviet Union. In comparison to the past, the present is represented as a much better place to live with such things as “work, joy, discipline, [and] camaraderie.” People in Nazi Germany were expected to work for the cause and continue to be disciplined, but the message also points to them having joy and fun by standing for the Führer and his government.

The other part of this poster is the past being shown as a negative time in German History. Along with the text stating there was, “Unemployment, hopelessness, desolation, strikes, [and] lockouts,” there is also a depiction of German people in the background to illustrate the past. In a gray and washed-out color there are multiple men holding striking signs and yelling, which create this feeling of negativity and problems that existed in the past before Nazism was put in place. This idea was commonly held by the citizens and leaders in Germany at this time, and was used to spark hate towards the Jewish people who were being blamed for causing economic and political disasters. The final thing that represents this terrible past is the young man lying with his head down on the beam. In this he is shown as being as low as a person can get, possibly to illustrate famines or other economic hardships. The portrayal of the past in the background of this poster help us to understand the feelings held about the past by the leaders of the Nazi Party, and how they tried to use those images to convey a message of nationalism and support for the new system that Adolph Hitler was initiating.